City Centre, Greenpoint, Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Abstract

Sacred Heart Catholic Church: The parish has been established in 1883. The church is situated in the heart of the downtown area. In the tower hangs a bell that however is silenced because the tower became too vulnerable for the ringing vibrations. In between two moulding wires on the shoulder one reads information of the founder. Around the bell is written MATTHEW O’BYRNE. FOUNTAIN HEAD BELL FOUNDRY. JAMES’S ST DUBLIN. 1910. On the waist stands VERY REV. M. COLOGAN D.D. and a bit lower SACRED HEARTH. The decorations finish with three moulding wires above the knee and two on the sound bow. The best known of the Dublin bell founders was, undoubtedly, Matthew O'Byrne of The Fountain Head Bell Foundry. Matthew Byrne, his father, had been a Chief Engineer in The Royal Navy and established in 1840 The Fountain Head Iron Foundry in James's Street, Dublin. The economic depression of the 1930s brought an end to the production of bells. The bell sits in a yoke on which one reads M. BYRNE’S PATENT 62 ROTARY MOUNTING which refers to a patent that was attributed to him in 1887. The patent refers to a cast-iron headstock with a tapered hole through which a tapered boss on the crown of the bell was inserted and bolted in place using the crown staple bolt. By slacking the nuts, the bell can be rotated, presenting a new striking face and increasing the life of the bell considerably.